According to data from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 15.5% of Americans smoke tobacco daily. According to a report from the same body, Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States , including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. The statistic amplifies the need to control tobacco smoking in the country. Presently the attention is on the adolescent smokers whose numbers are fueling rapidly ( Burden of Tobacco Use in the U.S, 2019). A 2015report compiled by Surgeon General reveals that one of four high school seniors is a current smoker. The rise of smoking among the adolescents mostly who has hit the age mark of 18 years is raising a concern and has been the factors which led states such as California to champion for the Tobacco 21 policy. Tobacco 21 is a policy that aims to increase the tobacco product purchase age to 21 years. California made the correct decision to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products to 21 since such policy wills Tobacco-related deaths, allow proper brain development, and also reduce the smoking in education facilities.
Increasing Tobacco product purchase to 21 years will allow proper brain development among the youths because tobacco smoking at a young age interferes with brain development. The tobacco market is targeting teenagers with their flavored products and e-cigarettes. The problem is that behind the flavored taste, hides the nicotine, which is an addictive chemical that is hazardous to the young brains. Nicotine is toxic to the young people whose brains are developing as they are susceptible to addictiveness and harm from the nicotine chemical. The Human brain develops until the age of 25 years old. In this sense, nicotine can either induce temporary or permanent change to brain development, and this could affect the victim’ behaviors. It can affect the parts of the brain that are responsible for memory and learning. Increasing the age to 21 years would thus be effective ways to tame the culture ( Wang et al., 2018).
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Furthermore, increasing the tobacco product purchase to 21 years would reduce the tobacco-related deaths mostly among the youths. Most of the teens who use tobacco die at the age of 35 years. The causes of deaths are lung cancer and other illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and untamed behaviours, which link to Tobacco smoking. Further, the death rates among youths also tie to tobacco ( Singh, 2016). According to a report Fromm the United State CDC, suicide that links to anxiety and depression among the youths stands at 21%. Its cause is alcohol and tobacco use that results in anxiety and depression, leading to suicide ( Burden of Tobacco Use in the U.S, 2019). Increasing the tobacco product is to 21 years will ensure that the chances of the youth of getting tobacco are minimal, which would lead to a reduction in tobacco mortality (Hu, 2016).
Finally, increasing the tobacco products purchase to 21 years old would eliminate the smoking rate in schools. According to data by Surgeon General,1 in 10 high schools senior males is a smokeless tobacco user, and 1 in 5 high school senior males is a current cigar user. Mostly, students reach their final year in high school at the age of 18 years, which is the legal age for tobacco product purchase. According to Kasza et al. (2017), students use their age opportunity to purchase a tobacco product for junior students, and this increases the use of these products among the school-going age.
Critics of the tobacco 21 policy claim that it would insignificantly reduce the tobacco use among the youths as most of such teenagers would find alternatives ways to getting tobacco in school. It is a valid argument which people should consider because it does not mean that a strategy to prevent tobacco use would eliminate its use. However, tobacco 21 would reduce the rate of tobacco products use among youths.
In an art shell, the move by California State to increase the tobacco products purchase age to 21 years is a good strategy towards reducing the negative impacts of tobacco in society. It will lead to proper brain development by eliminating the chances of negative behaviours which society would induce among the youths due to Tabaco usage. It would also reduce death rates and eliminate smoking among students.
References
Hu, S. S. (2016). Tobacco product use among adults—the United States, 2013–2014. MMWR.Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report , 65 .
Kasza, K. A., Ambrose, B. K., Conway, K. P., Borek, N., Taylor, K., Goniewicz, M. L., ... & Kaufman, A. R. (2017). Tobacco-product use by adults and youths in the United States in 2013 and 2014. New England Journal of Medicine , 376 (4), 342-353.
Singh, T. (2016).Characteristics of electronic cigarette use among middle and high school students—the United States, 2015. MMWR.Morbidity and mortality weekly report , 65 .
The burden of Tobacco Use in the U.S. (2019). Retrieved 17 September 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/resources/data/cigarette-smoking-in-united-states.html
Wang, T. W., Gentzke, A., Sharapova, S., Cullen, K. A., Ambrose, B. K., & Jamal, A. (2018).Tobacco product use among middle and high school students—the United States, 2011–2017. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report , 67 (22), 629.
